Wasn’t given an ultimatum from selectors, says Ashish Nehra after retirement

Ashish Nehra retired from all forms of cricket after India’s T20 match against New Zealand. (Source: PTI)

ON HIS final day as an international cricketer, Ashish Nehra insisted that he had taken the decision to retire on his own accord and not because chief selector MSK Prasad had informed him that the selection committee was “only looking to him till the New Zealand series”. In fact, Nehra denied having even spoken to Prasad on the matter and revealed that he had told captain Virat Kohli about his plan in Ranchi, where India played Australia in the first of three T20s.

“I heard this. I don’t know. The chairman of selection committee has not spoken to me about this. You have asked me this question, and I can only tell you about my interaction with the team management. When I reached Ranchi, I told Virat about my plan, and his first reaction was, ‘Are you sure? You can still play IPL. You can play as coach-cum-player.’ I said no. I am retiring completely,” he told reporters in Delhi on Wednesday after bringing his 18-year international career to a close on his home-ground. Nehra was responding to Prasad’s comments following the last selection committee meeting where he revealed having told Nehra that the selectors won’t be considering him for selection for the Indian team post the T20 series against New Zealand.

“We all know that right from the word go that communication has been our strong point. We have clearly communicated to the player, Ashish Nehra, and to the team management that we are only looking at him till the New Zealand series. If you see the pattern with which we have selected India A players, the same bowlers we have been continuing with for the past one-and-a-half years in all the A tours. That means they are very much in line,” he had said.

Nehra, however, dismissed suggestions that he had asked for a “farewell” game and insisted that it was just a case of serendipity that he ended up playing his last game in front of his home-crowd. “I have been saying this again and again. Luckily this game happened to be in Delhi. I have not asked for a farewell game or anything. This is perhaps one way that God has rewarded me for all the hard work I have put in over the last eight-nine years. I hope Virat and coach Ravi Shastri are part of team management because those are the people I spoke to. I have not spoken to any selector over this issue,” he said before seemingly taking a dig at Prasad saying, “When I started playing cricket, I didn’t take any selector’s permission. When I am leaving, I am not leaving with their permission.”

Nehra had been picked for the three T20s against Australia but hadn’t found a place in the final XI for the first two matches before the third in Hyderabad was washed out without a ball bowled. His exclusion had raised a lot of eyebrows and perhaps justified Prasad’s claims but Nehra revealed that it was he who had volunteered to be benched in favour of Bhuvaneshwar Kumar getting a go.

“Lot of people have been saying that Ashish Nehra didn’t play in the XI against Australia. When I went there, I
went with my plan. I felt that Bhuvneshwar Kumar was ready. If you had seen earlier, (Jasprit) Bumrah and I have been playing. Two spinners play, and the third fast bowler is Hardik Pandya. So Bhuvi misses out. He, too, had been a little up and down until this year’s IPL. After the IPL, I personally felt that this is the way forward, that as a bowler I will not like to keep playing at the expense of Bhuvi (who has been Nehra’s teammate at Sunrisers Hyderabad for the last few years),” Nehra explained.

Nehra also countered Prasad’s views from earlier about there being “no guarantees” about the 38-year-old fast bowler playing in what would end up as his final bow at the Ferozshah Kotla.

“Even today people were wondering if Ashish Nehra will play or not, but if I was in the 15 today, I was obviously going to play. Mein ghoomne nahi aaya tha (I didn’t come to just look around),” said Nehra.